Mama had always picked Timbershy up when it was time to leave their territory in the forest. At first, when Timbershy learned this, she was finicky and unhappy, trying to kick away from Mama as much as she could so that the pack could stay; she always made little animal friends in the different spots of the forest, like the little bear cubs and squirrels that wouldn't let her catch them, so why couldn't she stay and talk to them? It wasn't fair -- it was their territory, Mama had told her so. Why were they leaving like this? It wasn't until Mama started to growl warnings and bite down a little harder that Timbershy stopped resisting.
She still didn't understand it, though. Not until everyone started getting hungry.
It wasn't bad, at first, for Timbershy. Some nights she would curl up next to her mother like she always did, and yawn against Mama's hard, wooden skin like normal... only Mama's stomach would growl. She didn't mind or worry much... but eventually it got to the point where Timbershy's stomach started doing that too. And then, suddenly, everyone's was. It wasn't much, just a little bit of hunger... really, Timbershy hadn't noticed it until her stomach started to cramp all the time, and her Mama always barked at her because she was tired and sore. Then it was bad.
But not horrible. It wasn't horrible until a long time later. That night, things were just... awful. It was normal, at first, like a lot of things but... it was so sudden, and Timbershy still didn't understand it...
Timbershy sat by her Mama, behind her large, wooden leg, staring out at the pack. Some of the younger pups were playing in her peripheral vision, pouncing on each other and chewing roughly on each other's ears while the eldest of the pack watched them, laying on their stomachs and panting after a long days work of scouting for food. Mr. Omega, even, was tired and sore, though he was usually playful and loud. Everyone else was gone. Mama hadn't told her where they went, and only told her that they weren't coming back. Ever.
Timbershy missed them.
She looked up at her Mama, so she wouldn't be so sad. And Mama was beautiful. She was a dark brown, rings cut into her wooden bones to show that she had been alive for years on end, twigs breaking upwards into an upside-down arch on her head to form a crown. Her tail was cut short and stubby, more than half of it snapped off a long time ago, and a blue-green light shimmered off of her body and eyes, sparkling and bright. Eyes which were now staring out into the distance, lost in thought. To Timbershy, she was stunning.
Mama caught Timbershy staring, and looked down at her from the corner of her eye. Timbershy, in turn, yelped, and turned to the boys playing to her left. She didn't want to make Mama angry. It was rude to stare.
There was silence, and then, "You can go and play with them."
Timbershy looked to the ground, her ears flattening stiffly against her face. The boys were always rough, pinning her and scratching her face. "Oh... um, it's okay. I'll just stay here... I-if that's alright, Mama."
Mama gave a sharp growl. "You won't be able to hunt if you don't learn to play and pounce."
"B-But... hunt? I... I don't know if I can, Mama."
"You can't hunt?" Mama asked, standing from her place and clamping her teeth down on the back of Timbershy's neck. She lifted her from the ground with a slight grunt, and Timbershy whimpered silently to herself at the act. They were leaving again... like always... had Mama told her they were leaving soon? She couldn't remember. She probably had.
"I... don't know."
Mama stared into space for a few seconds, once again lost in thought and letting Timbershy take in her features. Mama seemed troubled, her ears fidgeting stiffly and the light of her eyes and limbs dimming to a glow. Timbershy thought she almost looked sick... and then Mama was putting Timbershy down again. Maybe they were staying after all...?
"You always wanted to stay?" she barked. "Then stay."
Mama walked away from her, a limp in her step, and slowly began to saunter towards the trees. Everyone in the pack noticed this, their heads turning to attention and their bodies snapping upward and the boys stopping mid-pounce to stare at her. Where was Mama going? Timbershy wished that she knew. All she knew was that Mama was getting everyone to stand up and stay awkwardly still, wondering what was happening. Mama always picked Timbershy up when it was time to leave, so what was she--
"Come on," Mama howled, twisting her head to look at the pack. "We're heading East. There's supposed to be food there, but not much."
Everybody whimpered, looking back and forth between Mama and Timbershy. Their faces were drawn up into confusion and pity, and Timbershy didn't understand why. She still didn't understand when everyone stopped and followed Mama, looking back every few seconds. The pack was staying... wasn't it? Where were they going? To hunt again? That had to be it, right? There was no other explanation -- Mama hadn't carried Timbershy away yet, like she always did. Maybe Mama just wanted her to follow?
Timbershy got up, seeing an older Timberwolf struggling to walk while he panted and limped against a cracked and splintery paw. She bounded over to him, digging her claws into the dirt nervously. He hadn't left yet, maybe he wasn't going to. Maybe she could ask him where the others were headed.
"Oh, um, Mr. Omega?" she asked, her voice a hushed bark. "Wh-Where are you going... if I can ask that, I mean. Am I supposed to go too?"
Mr. Omega, wincing in pain, looked back at her with pity as he curled his paw lose up to his chest. He looked away from her, his eyes brought up to the sky and away from her. "Uh... kid, ah... no, I don't think so," he whimpered, slowly twisting away from her.
"Oh? Are you going out to hunt again? Will Mama be back?"
Mr. Omega didn't look back, instead staring forward, to where Mama was disappearing into the bushes and trees. He opened his mouth a few times before closing it again every time. Did he not know? How did he get hurt? Timbershy didn't know anything anymore. "I... kid, listen, I..." he stammered. He let out a heavy sigh, turning back to look into her glowing eyes. "No, kid. I don't think so. I'm sorry."
She didn't understand anything. Know anything. Why? Why was Mama leaving without her? She wasn't. She couldn't have been. It was a mistake. Mr. Omega didn't know what he was talking about, and Mama would be back. They were just hunting. She just had to stay there. There, like Mama told her.
"Oh," she said. "Thank you, Mr. Omega."
She hated Mr. Omega. He lied. She knew he lied. That's why she didn't try to help him while he limped away. That's why she sat down in that spot when she couldn't see him anymore. That's why she kept sitting there. For hours. Maybe days, she couldn't tell -- it was always dark in the forest.
She didn't know anything. Like what time it was. Or where the pack went. Or why she was waiting for so long. Everything started getting blurry after a while, and she couldn't think. Her throat was dry and scratchy, her stomach cramping and growling painfully. Where was the food? The water? They just repeating, her thoughts, and her mind felt like it was scrambled all throughout her brain.
Where was her Mama?
She wasn't coming back.
Why?
She didn't know. She never would. Is that even how that day happened, or did something else happen? Did she forget.?She didn't know that, either, or anything. She just remembered that she went to sleep, and when she woke up, there was a river and a dead, bloody squirrel in front of her.
And the pack hadn't caught it for her.
Behind Curtain Number Two - Part One
Timbershy v.2.0
Mama always picked Timbershy up when it was time for the pack to move on. At first, when the young pup figured this out, she was finicky and upset, trying the best she could to kick away from Mama so that she pack would stay; she always made little animal friends in the different spots of the forest, like the little bear cubs and squirrels that never ran away, so why couldn't she stay and talk to them? It wasn't fair -- it was their territory, Mama had told her so. Why were they leaving like this? It wasn’t until the growls grew louder and Mama’s grip on her became more and more painful that the cub finally quit resisting.
She still didn't understand it, though. Not until the hunger began to set in.
It wasn't bad, at first, for the shy little pup. Some nights she would curl up next to her mother like she always did, and yawn against her mother’s hard, wooden chest... But she could hear mother’s stomach growl. She didn't mind or worry much...but eventually the young cub’s own pain became too unbearable to ignore. Sleep became a difficult task to accomplish, with the snarls of hungry camp members echoing through the caves, resonating through a dark forest. All the poor pup was left with was snarls from her short tempered Mama and sharp pains burrowing into her oaken form.
It was bad, but not horrible. It wasn't horrible until much later... and for a completely different reason.
It had been a normal day, over all. The Timberwolves who had gone off to hunt had returned with no food, saying that there was none left. They explored the expanse of their territory, searching it over and over again for a sign of just a single squirrel or living animal, but it was as if all of them had just run off or disappeared from the face of the planet. Absolutely nothing was left at that part of Everfree.
So they did what they always did. They argued, snapping furious growls and snarls back and forth between each other, quarreling and having to be broken up before they decided to move again. Mama then gave her normal, low growl of warning to Timbershy, clamping down on the back of her neck much harder than she had to, swinging her up from the ground and limping after the pack. Like always. They always left.
But it was normal. A normal day. A bad one, yes, but normal. It wasn't different until later.
Timbershy swung low to the ground, her wooden paws scraping the ground as her mother limped oddly. She had thought about telling her Mama about it -- telling her that it was hurting her and dirt was starting to cake into the scratches in her wooden legs -- but when she looked up at Mama, she knew that she wouldn't. Her mother's eyes were squinted and drawn up in pain, and her wooden ears were snapped back angrily against her cheeks. Her stomach cramping and letting off low growls, she snorted and stared down the path ahead, marked by paw-prints.
Timbershy knew that if she went against her mother now, she would be angry, and would just snap and bite down even harder against Timbershy's wooden skin. It would just be better to let it be, let Mama be as happy as she could -- Mama did so much to help her, after all. So Timbershy just looked away from her, ignored the pain in her paws, and looked down to the trail swinging around below her and scraping at her paws. It was the best she could do, since she wasn't walking herself. Just stay still, quiet, not make a distraction.
She stared at the ground, and looked at the patterns going by.
There were tiny swirls of dirt branching off of the wooden paws of the pack ahead, swirling up into Timbershy's face. Clouds of the dirt and dust scattered over the paw-prints they left behind, pebbles, ridges in the earth. Timbershy looked at each one, the paw-prints, naming off who's paw each belonged to. Mr. Alpha, Mr. Omega, Mr.Beta--
Mama tensed. The pack stopped. Timbershy stopped thinking about the paw-prints and looked up.
Timbershy broke her rule, looking wildly around as her mother's lips tightened into a thin line. What was happening? Mama never stopped until they were at their new territory and she circled around three times, making a new place to sleep -- why was she stopping now? What was happening? What was happening? What was--
A sharp growl ripped through the back of Mama's throat, the Timberwolf's wooden legs stiffening as Timbershy watched. Timbershy heard her mother sniffing at the breeze, an air of tension flying over the entire pack. An odd smell wafted and misted over Timbershy's nose through the dust, everyone around her bared their fangs and dug their claws into the dirt...
There was a sharp whistle, Timbershy's vision went black, and then she was on the ground.
After that... It all happened so fast... there were loud, harsh yelps that split through the trees, snarls and the lashing of claws and teeth... two more high-pitched whistles which broke off in Timbershy's ears...
Timbershy stood up from wherever she was at the time, her head swimming while she shook the dust off of her body. A pounding formed in her head as noises exploded from all sides, her scratched paws aching even more now that they were up. How had she gotten to solid ground like that? Her Mama had... dropped her? Something had to be wrong, Mama never dropped her. Never. Something had to be--
Timbershy opened her eyes, and looked up at her Mama and the chaos swirling all around her.
Mama laid on the ground, eyes closed. A strange object, some sort cylinder with red leaves on one end and a sharp point on the other, jabbed and broke into Mama's hard skin. It had punctured down into her veins beneath the dull, broken wood, a sparkling blue concoction of several pure magics leaking from the hole that... thing had made. Two more Timberwolves, just ahead of her, were laying the same way, leaving imprints in the ground, while the rest of the pack let out harsh barks and yelps, snapping their teeth.
... what were they... why... was Mama...
Timbershy backed up, her legs and arched back shaking as she walked backwards, away from her Mama. What was going on? Timbershy hadn't seen anyone -- surely nothing would attack the whole pack...? B-But they had, and Timbershy saw it... they still were...
Two more whistles. Then three. Five Timberwolves hit the ground.
Timbershy couldn't stop staring, couldn't move from her spot staring at her mother. She couldn't tell if Mama was breathing. If any of them were breathing. Who was... what was... ?
Four more. Then one. Only Timbershy was left.
And she could see them.
Walking forward, with large grey boxes with lines in the middle floating along in a magic bubble... were monsters. They were somewhat tall, yet small in stature, their heads covered in odd wisps of stringy clouds of what Timbershy thought looked a lot like the fur on a squirrel's tale. They were different colors, all contrasting against the green and greys of the trees, an odd, sharp stick protruding out of their heads. A white, billowing leaf-like object hung from the colors on them, circles and squares rimming their eyes... they smelled so strange too, unlike anything Timbershy had known...
They were looking at her. With those big, weird eyes, they were looking at Timbershy. They stalked closer, gibberish breaking past their mouths and moving back between the group of them. Some of them moved their eyes across some of the pack, taking the little cylinders out of them and starting to shake them. They looked... confused, angry maybe, Timbershy didn't know. She just knew they were coming closer, one of the large grey boxes in a bubble. Just closer... closer... closer...
Timbershy ran. She couldn't remember, not even now, how far or how long. She just ran away from the monsters, gibberish and weird noises coming from them as she went. She ran and ran, away from the sight of Mama's blood, away from the pack hitting the ground, away from the boxes. Everything. Nothing. She couldn't tell anymore. She never would. How in the world could any of this happen? Why did she have to run from this?
When she stopped, she was lost. Timbershy knew she was lost -- she didn't even look around the area or try to see where she was -- but she didn't care. She just cared about Mama. Mama and the pack.
Mama... was she remembering right? That couldn't have happened, right? Where was she, even? She couldn't actually have been lost could she? Mama wouldn't let her get lost. She tried to think about it, tried to see what happened... they were alive and they were walking, but then that smell and Mama wasn't moving anymore, and maybe she was dead, but Mama couldn't be dead, except she was and so were all of the others except for her and she was all alone and she didn't even have the squirrels and--
It didn't make sense. None of it did. This had gone by to fast, she couldn't understand... Nothing. There was just nothing. Nothing...
A sharp pain shot through Timbershy's stomach and down her spine, and then the world went black.
She dreamed about the little pointy cylinders.
Timbershy v.2.0 continued
Mama always picked Timbershy up when it was time for the pack to move on. At first, when the young pup figured this out, she was finicky and upset, trying the best she could to kick away from Mama so that she pack would stay; she always made little animal friends in the different spots of the forest, like the little bear cubs and squirrels that never ran away, so why couldn't she stay and talk to them? It wasn't fair -- it was their territory, Mama had told her so. Why were they leaving like this? It wasn’t until the growls grew louder and Mama’s grip on her became more and more painful that the cub finally quit resisting.
She still didn't understand it, though. Not until the hunger began to set in.
It wasn't bad, at first, for the shy little pup. Some nights she would curl up next to her mother like she always did, and yawn against her mother’s hard, wooden chest... But she could hear mother’s stomach growl. She didn't mind or worry much...but eventually the young cub’s own pain became too unbearable to ignore. Sleep became a difficult task to accomplish, with the snarls of hungry camp members echoing through the caves, resonating through a dark forest. All the poor pup was left with was snarls from her short tempered Mama and sharp pains burrowing into her oaken form.
It was bad, but not horrible. It wasn't horrible until much later... and for a completely different reason.
It had been a normal day, over all. The Timberwolves who had gone off to hunt had returned with no food, saying that there was none left. They explored the expanse of their territory, searching it over and over again for a sign of just a single squirrel or living animal, but it was as if all of them had just run off or disappeared from the face of the planet. Absolutely nothing was left at that part of Everfree.
So they did what they always did. They argued, snapping furious growls and snarls back and forth between each other, quarreling and having to be broken up before they decided to move again. Mama then gave her normal, low growl of warning to Timbershy, clamping down on the back of her neck much harder than she had to, swinging her up from the ground and limping after the pack. Like always. They always left.
But it was normal. A normal day. A bad one, yes, but normal. It wasn't different until later.
Timbershy swung low to the ground, her wooden paws scraping the ground as her mother limped oddly. She had thought about telling her Mama about it -- telling her that it was hurting her and dirt was starting to cake into the scratches in her wooden legs -- but when she looked up at Mama, she knew that she wouldn't. Her mother's eyes were squinted and drawn up in pain, and her wooden ears were snapped back angrily against her cheeks. Her stomach cramping and letting off low growls, she snorted and stared down the path ahead, marked by paw-prints.
Timbershy knew that if she went against her mother now, she would be angry, and would just snap and bite down even harder against Timbershy's wooden skin. It would just be better to let it be, let Mama be as happy as she could -- Mama did so much to help her, after all. So Timbershy just looked away from her, ignored the pain in her paws, and looked down to the trail swinging around below her and scraping at her paws. It was the best she could do, since she wasn't walking herself. Just stay still, quiet, not make a distraction.
She stared at the ground, and looked at the patterns going by.
There were tiny swirls of dirt branching off of the wooden paws of the pack ahead, swirling up into Timbershy's face. Clouds of the dirt and dust scattered over the paw-prints they left behind, pebbles, ridges in the earth. Timbershy looked at each one, the paw-prints, naming off who's paw each belonged to. Mr. Alpha, Mr. Omega, Mr.Beta--
Mama tensed. The pack stopped. Timbershy stopped thinking about the paw-prints and looked up.
Timbershy broke her rule, looking wildly around as her mother's lips tightened into a thin line. What was happening? Mama never stopped until they were at their new territory and she circled around three times, making a new place to sleep -- why was she stopping now? What was happening? What was happening? What was--
A sharp growl ripped through the back of Mama's throat, the Timberwolf's wooden legs stiffening as Timbershy watched. Timbershy heard her mother sniffing at the breeze, an air of tension flying over the entire pack. An odd smell wafted and misted over Timbershy's nose through the dust, everyone around her bared their fangs and dug their claws into the dirt...
There was a sharp whistle, Timbershy's vision went black, and then she was on the ground.
After that... It all happened so fast... there were loud, harsh yelps that split through the trees, snarls and the lashing of claws and teeth... two more high-pitched whistles which broke off in Timbershy's ears...
Timbershy stood up from wherever she was at the time, her head swimming while she shook the dust off of her body. A pounding formed in her head as noises exploded from all sides, her scratched paws aching even more now that they were up. How had she gotten to solid ground like that? Her Mama had... dropped her? Something had to be wrong, Mama never dropped her. Never. Something had to be--
Timbershy opened her eyes, and looked up at her Mama and the chaos swirling all around her.
Mama laid on the ground, eyes closed. A strange object, some sort cylinder with red leaves on one end and a sharp point on the other, jabbed and broke into Mama's hard skin. It had punctured down into her veins beneath the dull, broken wood, a sparkling blue concoction of several pure magics leaking from the hole that... thing had made. Two more Timberwolves, just ahead of her, were laying the same way, leaving imprints in the ground, while the rest of the pack let out harsh barks and yelps, snapping their teeth.
... what were they... why... was Mama...
Timbershy backed up, her legs and arched back shaking as she walked backwards, away from her Mama. What was going on? Timbershy hadn't seen anyone -- surely nothing would attack the whole pack...? B-But they had, and Timbershy saw it... they still were...
Two more whistles. Then three. Five Timberwolves hit the ground.
Timbershy couldn't stop staring, couldn't move from her spot staring at her mother. She couldn't tell if Mama was breathing. If any of them were breathing. Who was... what was... ?
Four more. Then one. Only Timbershy was left.
And she could see them.
Walking forward, with large grey boxes with lines in the middle floating along in a magic bubble... were monsters. They were somewhat tall, yet small in stature, their heads covered in odd wisps of stringy clouds of what Timbershy thought looked a lot like the fur on a squirrel's tale. They were different colors, all contrasting against the green and greys of the trees, an odd, sharp stick protruding out of their heads. A white, billowing leaf-like object hung from the colors on them, circles and squares rimming their eyes... they smelled so strange too, unlike anything Timbershy had known...
They were looking at her. With those big, weird eyes, they were looking at Timbershy. They stalked closer, gibberish breaking past their mouths and moving back between the group of them. Some of them moved their eyes across some of the pack, taking the little cylinders out of them and starting to shake them. They looked... confused, angry maybe, Timbershy didn't know. She just knew they were coming closer, one of the large grey boxes in a bubble. Just closer... closer... closer...
Timbershy ran. She couldn't remember, not even now, how far or how long. She just ran away from the monsters, gibberish and weird noises coming from them as she went. She ran and ran, away from the sight of Mama's blood, away from the pack hitting the ground, away from the boxes. Everything. Nothing. She couldn't tell anymore. She never would. How in the world could any of this happen? Why did she have to run from this?
When she stopped, she was lost. Timbershy knew she was lost -- she didn't even look around the area or try to see where she was -- but she didn't care. She just cared about Mama. Mama and the pack.
Mama... was she remembering right? That couldn't have happened, right? Where was she, even? She couldn't actually have been lost could she? Mama wouldn't let her get lost. She tried to think about it, tried to see what happened... they were alive and they were walking, but then that smell and Mama wasn't moving anymore, and maybe she was dead, but Mama couldn't be dead, except she was and so were all of the others except for her and she was all alone and she didn't even have the squirrels and--
It didn't make sense. None of it did. This had gone by to fast, she couldn't understand... Nothing. There was just nothing. Nothing...
A sharp pain shot through Timbershy's stomach and down her spine, and then the world went black.
She dreamed of the pointy little cylinders.
***
When Timbershy woke up she expected to see her pack getting up, barking orders and making complaints on how hungry they were. She expected to be picked up from her mother and be carried with the rest of the pack. She expected to feel her mother's wooden chest pressed up against hers, warming her up in the endless cold nights.
She expected anything other than what happened next.
She twisted her body to the left and peaked one of her eyes open, and an endless valley of green filled her surroundings. She was rested upon a luscious soft grass, under the sea of blue above, with white, fluffy clouds scattered in the sky. Oak trees stretched to the tips of the heavens, and the sun beamed into her face, cooking her flesh and fur. There were no Timberwolves curled up, asleep, beside her. No sign of the pack. No sign of Mama. No sign of anything.
And... Mama? Where was she? She was just there -- she had to still be there, right?
Panicking, and her breath quickening, Timbershy opened both eyes. She couldn't see her mama, or the pack. She lifted her shaking body up, her eyes darting back and forth across the trees, and searched the forest. She couldn't find anyone. Not Mama, not Mr. Omega, not anyone. She was alone. How was she going to survive without Mama? Where were the others? What happened to Mama and the--
It hit her like a ton of bricks.
Her mind swimming, thoughts pounding I her brain like a drum, it came back to her. The spindly creatures with sticks on their foreheads, the grey boxes that the creatures swung around with their strange, colorful magic, the little cylinders that were sticking into Mama... th-that had killed... killed...
The memories settled into her aching, growling stomach and sat there like lead, pushing her body back to the ground. It happened. It was happening. It wasn't just a dream -- everyone was gone. She was lost in the forest, completely alone, and she never was good at tracking and hunting. Mama always got her food for her and kept her safe. Now she was forced to fend for herself. She had to. But she didn't know how. How? How would she... do this alone...?
She did her best to remember the layout of their territory. A river marked the eastern border of their territory. Which way is east? A memory of her father, from long ago, came into her mind. No faces, really, but a voice. One distinct voice...
"Timbershy, do you know which direction we're heading?" A familiar voice asked.
"No I don't, Daddy." She answered sitting up on his back.
"Well, let me teach you a trick to remember. The sun rises in the east, and the sets in the west."
"So east would be that way?" She pointed to where the sun rose a few hours ago. "And west would be there?" She pointed in the opposite direction.
"That's right." He confirmed.
"What about north and south?" The pup asked.
"That answer lies with the trees."
"Really, daddy? The trees will tell us?"
"Yes, but not with words." He approached a nearby tree and pointed at the trunk near the ground.. "You see this green bark?"
"Yes."
"This green bark only grows on the north side of the trees. We use this to help navigate the territory. Now, which direction are we going?"
"South?"
"Excellent, you are a fast learner. It took me a long time to learn that." He smiled.
"It wasn't that hard, daddy."
"Not for you, because you are a smart pup."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. You won't have a problem getting food when you get old enough to hunt. I'm proud to say you are my daughter. Now let's get moving, we don't want to fall behind."
She looked up at the sky and saw the sun was about to set, and began walking in the opposite direction. Dad's right, I can do this. With new found fire, she took off in the direction of the river.
***
Years Later
"Bill, bill, another bill, magazine subscription... Oh hello, what's this?" Derpy picked up a curious and formal letter in a yellow aura, the envelope covered in a blood-red seal. The sending address was from Canterlot, apparently, and it said it was for her. But who could it be from? I don't know anyone in Canterlot. She ripped the envelope open with a hoof, and read over the elegant print of the parchment.
Dear Ms. Hooves,
I require you help. Years ago, I began a project to develop a magic spell that could change other creatures into ponies. Unfortunately, the project staff that developed the spell have all retired. I need someone new to help finish it. You are one of the few unicorns that live in Ponyville and are close enough to the Everfree Forest to test it. I know I am asking a lot, but you shall receive generous compensation for your efforts. I will explain the details if you accept my offer. Please reply quickly, though, as I need to know if you can perform this duty for your country.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Derpy nearly dropped the letter after seeing who it was from, her jaw almost hitting the ground and her breath hitching at the back of her throat. The P-Princess requested my help... with payment... I-I don't know, I don't know what this is... What am I talking about?! I need to do this! With all those bills and Dinky starting another semester at school...
She pulled a piece of parchment out of her desk via magic and dipped a quill in a bottle of ink.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I would be honored to assist in this project. All I require are the details and instructions. Thank you for this opportunity, I promise not to disappoint.
Your Loyal subject,
Ditzy Doo.
She quickly trotted outside and excitedly shoved the letter into her mailbox outside, and walked back inside to find her youngest daughter waiting for her, a confused smile stretched out on her face.
"Mommy, is something happening?"
"Yes Dinky, all of our problems might be going away soon!" She picked up her pegasus daughter and nuzzled her nose into her cheek. Her daughter giggling and pushing away from her with a puckered face, a single thought ran through Ditzy Doo's mind:
I need to be ready for whatever this spell might be.
***
"Believe it or not, Miss Doo, but this is a relatively simple spell. Just the two of us together should be able to perform it when the time comes, if everything goes according to plan. It will take a couple weeks, yes, but it shouldn't be that difficult for a unicorn of your skill level."
Ditzy Doo's chest heaved up and down in fear as she poked her head around the corner of the tree she was pressed against, her heart throbbing up from her chest and up into her dry, aching throat. She wasn't ready for what she was about to do. She'd never be ready -- what if she and her partner failed the spell? The creature would surely be angry. What if it slashed her throat open, left her bleeding to death on the floor of the Everfree? Who would take care of Dinky and Sparkler?
"O-Of my skill level? I'm sorry, sir, but... I-I'm just not sure if I can do this, and--"
"Miss Doo, it will be fine. Even a filly could pull this off, if given the help of two or three mages, and I promise you that you'll be rewarded greatly for your time. Do we have a deal here, Miss Doo?"
Derpy took a deep breath, struggling to stay calm, and looked to her partner at her right. His grey, fur-covered face was stoic and calm, his green eyes, rimmed by protective goggles, staring determinedly around the bark of the tree he was against. He wasn't scared. He wasn't worried. He was completely calm. Derpy should have been like him, she told herself. Nothing would go wrong.
Hopefully.
"Well, if you're so sure... what exactly would I have to do, though, mister...?"
"Evergreen. And that, too, would be relatively simple. We already know that the spell does what it's intended to, but we also know that it's not quite perfected. As soon as the target is in sight, we'll set off the spell to make it easier to capture and to preserve recourses. After that, we would just be monitoring it's progress and running a couple of tests to see how we need to make changes to the spell."
She gulped and looked around the tree again. And it was gone.
"Wh-What?!" she screamed in a hushed whisper. "How did it...? Evergeen?!"
Ditzy Doo looked over to where her partner had been standing. He was no longer there, and as Derpy saw with another peek behind the tree, was now several feet away, jabbing a hoof through some bushes and muttering something unintelligible to himself. Meaning he had left Derpy alone. In the Everfree. Where that thing could get her at any second. How had he even gotten away so quickly?
"E-Evergreen?! Evergreen!"
Derpy trotted away from her hiding spot as quickly as she possibly could, her breath hitching as her partner ducked into some tall shrubs. What was he doing?! What if it saw her? What if it heard her? What if he wasn't there to help? Where was he? What if--
"Target? And what would the target be?"
"A Timberwolf, Miss Doo. Nothing too large."
Then, everything slowed to a near stop. Ditzy "Derpy" Doo heard a furious snarl and the snapping of claws. She turned, a squeal bursting from her lips and bouncing from the expanse of trees circling her, and a Timberwolf, vibrant pink flowers breaking off of its branchy head, lunging at her.
It was going to get her. It was going to kill her. She was going to die. She was going to leave her children as orphans.
Derpy wasn't going to let that happen. Her horn flared, her eyes crossing themselves and her teeth grinding together with determination, and then the Timberwolf was being suspended in the air.
***
Timbershy studied the forest floor, tracking the deer that would, with luck, become her next meal. The sun offered little light as it was about to set as she hunted her prey alone. She had been alone for so long now it was hard to remember how long her life had been that way. Not that it mattered, Mama was gone and nothing was going to change that. Same with the pack, they were all gone.
A rustling close by drew her attention away from her past and back to the present, where it needed to be. She pursued the sound to a nearby path. Normally, she would have avoided the paths ponies made in the Everfree, but the desire and need for food outweighed any fear or concern that they would attack. Even if her pack was taken down by the evil things.
The pony was covered in grey fur, and had thicker yellow fur on her head. A strange horn protruded out of it's forehead. It had a blonde tail as well. She was muttering that same strange language those other ones did so long ago when they attacked. It looked like she was searching for something. Not that it mattered, the creature didn't deserve to exist in her land. She began to feel the hatred she had harbored over the years bubbling over. *Why do they think they own this forest!? What gives them the right to come and go as they please!? Why should they be allowed to set one foot in this territory!?*
Her temper flared and she lunged out of the bushes. *It will pay for what they did to my pack! Timbershy raced down the path and bared her sharp teeth, ready to tear it to pieces. The pony gave a loud shriek and just when she thought she had it, she was paralyzed. Somehow floating in the air, her entire body was engulfed in some sort of yellow light. The horn on the pony's head glowed with the light as well. What did this thing do to me!?*
The pony began shouting gibberish at her while she was suspended in the air. Once it was done, Timbershy felt the earth return beneath her feet. She was still immobilized by the pony, who began muttering again. In her peripheral vision she saw another pony approach her, it's horn glowing as well. She walked right into a trap. The second pony was silent after a few minutes and it's horn gave off a blinding light. Then the first one followed suit. Her breathing quickened and she began to panic. Fear had gripped her mind much like the way her body was gripped by these ponies.
She clenched her eyelids shut to try to keep the light out. But, it was too bright and caused a sharp pain in her eyes. The pain started spreading over her entire body, as if her wooden hide was being stripped away. She was powerless to stop it. Her life was coming to an end, just like daddy, just like mama, just like her pack. Powerless to save herself from the coming end. Minutes ticked by at an agonizing pace as her entire body felt like it was on fire.
After a few more minutes, the pain had ceased. Timbershy was released and collapsed from the severe pain she had just been forced to endure. The two captors hadn't made any attempt to approach or move in on her. They eyed her with curiosity.
After resting for a moment, she could stand again. Only, something wasn't right. She looked down at her paws to find, she didn't have any. Nor did she have any claws, just hooves. *Why do I have hooves?*
"I... I can't believe it worked!" The first pony shouted.
"But of course, I told you. A foal could do it with help." The second replied, stoically.
*I can understand these things now? What did they do to me!? I swear if I don't find something soon I will tear out their throats! Timbershy snarled angrily at her captors and prepared to lunge again.*
"Calm down, Miss. We aren't going to hurt you, well... not yet." What does it mean not yet? Remembering what happened the fist time she attacked, Timbershy decided to relax and prepare to run when the opportunity arose.
"I will not be doing anything to hurt her. That's where I draw the line!" The first stomped it's hoof on the ground defiantly.
"We won't be doing any permanent harm. We need to do some tests, draw some blood. Test the levels of magic in her body, things like that."
"Alright, where will we keep her?"
"Your home would suit well."
"B-but I can't afford to feed someone else along with my daughters!"
"Which is why we will be paying you double what you have to pay to keep her fed. Everything is planned out to the letter Ms. Doo. I assure you."
"Alright, how are we going to get her into town. I doubt she will go willingly."
"That's what this is for." The pony pulled out a strange tube and a familiar looking object. A cylinder with red leaves. *No.. NO! Before she could run three feet the similar sound rang and a sudden pain shot in her leg. Timbershy felt her body drop to the ground and she fought to stay awake as her eyelids fell over her eyes.*
"Good, now let us get her into town before the sedatives wear off." The two carried her body out of the forest and into a town outside.
The next thing she knew she was in some sort of building with two more smaller ponies in them with them.
"Mommy, mommy! Thank goodness you're back." The smaller of the two shouted.
"Mom, who is that you're carrying?" The larger of the two asked.
"Well, she doesn't have a name..."
"Oh, I have a name mommy! Can I name her!?"
"I guess so, Dinky."
"Her name should be Cherry Dream!"
The pony that carried her laughed a little and put Timbershy down.
"Well Cherry Dream, welcome to Ponyville."
Timbershy v.2.0 continued
Behind Curtain Number Two - Part One
"Oh, what does this do?! Or this?! Or this?! Or-- ooooh, Dashie was your wing always this shade of blue?"
"Ugh, can't this thing go any faster? I could have made it to Canterlot and back by now! I don't see why we couldn't just -- Pinkie Pie, would you stop it already?!"
"Ah- Ah agree with Rainbow on this one, Twilight... Ah'm not... feelin'..."
"What?! No! Don't you dare get vomit anywhere near that dress -- that dress took me absolutely hours to complete, I'll have you know, and before I could even begin I had to go out to collect more gems and find the fabrics I needed... and that store... not even my worst enemy should have to endure the pure, unadulterated horror of that shop! The collection was small, the service was dreadful, and everypony insisted on picking up and immediately putting down that one piece of cheap fabric at the checkout desk--"
"Girls, please!"
Fluttershy smiled and sighed to herself in the corner, quietly sipping her drink as chaos broke out around her, and studied the interior of the flying wagon she was seated in. The seat itself was nice, red, soft, but strong enough to support her back, and the drink in front of her was -- oh... oh dear, now Applejack was sticking her head out the window; Fluttershy hoped she was okay... and Rarity would be so ang-- and the drink in front of her was a nice ruby red of a similar shade. There were several pillows stored underneath the row of seats placed beneath her in case they were in any way uncomfortable, and -- oh my, Rainbow Dash was flapping her wings on accident... Twilight looked like she was about to--
Fluttershy gave up.
Her friends... Fluttershy supposed it was to be expected, the chaos. After all, you couldn't expect to put the Elements of Harmony in a small, cramped space (for two hours now...) without something going terribly wrong. They just all had distinct personalities, loves and interests that made them different from each other, yet made Fluttershy love them, and sometimes those differences lead to some squabbling on the side. Really, the only thing they shared was their low tolerance levels... and short attention spans...
B-But Fluttershy still loved them. Even though Rainbow Dash was groaning and fidgeting in her seat while Pinkie Pie told jokes and pressed random buttons and Rarity squealed and flinched away from a heaving, green Applejack and Twilight groaned and rubbed her temples and took deep and easy breaths -- gasp -- she loved them.
Not very much at that moment, but she did. She just hoped they didn't start to fight... in fact, maybe it was time to break this up; Twilight's face was drawn into a furious snarl of a frown, her ears twitching down against her face. Fluttershy didn't want her to catch fire, and it looked like she was close, flames starting to lick at individual strands of her mane underneath her crown. A-And... oh dear, Pinkie Pie was starting to jump around and put Twilight's window up and down over and over again... The fire was starting to get bigger...
Yes! Enough was enough! She had to get the others to calm down, for Twilight's sake.
Fluttershy straightened out her back, sitting up and at attention. She squinted her eyes into a determined, concerned glare, popping her wings backward with a crack and pulling the sleeves of her green dress roughly away from her forelegs. She took a deep breath, her head craning backwards to prepare and...
"Oh, um, girls? C-Could we all be quiet for a bit?"
Nothing happened. The chaos continued. Fluttershy's sleeves rolled back down her legs by themselves, Fluttershy sagging forward. Why didn't it work? She had yelled so loudly...
"Girls? Let's all just quiet down, please."
And then everything went wrong.
Applejack brought her face back into the flying wagon, her muzzle dripping with a greenish, pink goo. Fluttershy jumped and placed a hoof against her breast, and Rarity let out a girlish squeal that echoed through the wagon while she scooted as far away as she possibly could. This sent her with her hooves circling around Twilight's waist, with Rarity screaming right into her ear and the flames growing higher and Pinkie putting the window up and down and up and down and...
"Girls?"
Rainbow Dash turned sharply away, putting one hoof in front of her in order to shield her eyes and the other going over her mouth. Her wings fanned out in disgust, her body now turned one-hundred eighty degrees in her seat, and her feathers smacked Twilight in the face. Twilight kept trying to spit them out and Rainbow kept moving and hitting her again and again and Rarity kept screaming and Pinkie Pie kept rolling the window up and down with a squeak and Twilight's fur was turning white...
"Girls? G-Girls?! P-Please!"
The liquid dripping from Applejack went straight into Twilight's glass of water, which was sitting directly in front of her on the table, and her head caught fire completely...
...AND WHY WOULDN'T PINKIE STOP ROLLING THE WINDOW UP AND DOWN?!
Fluttershy gasped, jumping from her seat and watching as flames trickled down Twilight's fur, completely obliterating her dress into a pile of ash. Fluttershy looked wildly around, fanning at the flames and desperately trying to put them out, but it just wasn't working and...
Fluttershy snatched her glass of sparkling juice off of the tiny table in front of her and wildly threw it towards Twilight in hopes that it would stop the wagon from going up in flames. Already the fire was starting to spread and light the seat under her, and smoke poured off of it and directly into Rarity's screaming face. This had to extinguish the fire, it had to. If not, then the wagon would have to be pulled over for an immediate stop, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight carrying the others out, and this entire trip would be for nothing.
... the juice poured out over Twilight, the fire around her snuffing out. Smoke rolled away from the fire with a sharp hiss, Rarity pulling back from Twilight's mane, which was now slicked down against her face by the juice. A collective gasp went through the wagon as the remainder of the smoke barreled out the open windows...
... and then the glass that Fluttershy threw cracked Twilight directly between the eyes.
...
Squeaaak... Vrrrrm... Squeaaak... Vrrrrm...
